Whip Artistry Studio Director Gery Deer on stage at the Carnegie Music Hall for an Indiana Jones-themed event in 2016.
Choreography & Show Development
Many of the students who pass through our studio are either already performing on stage or have an interest in doing so. Some are actors, stunt or sideshow performers, or have some other kind of act in which they would like to include some whip work.
The Whip Artistry Studio provides choreography and training for theater and film companies throughout the country.
One of the most difficult parts of whip work doesn’t center around targeting or fancy, double cracking routines, but around how to put a show together or choreograph a whip sequence within a play or dance routine.
There are dozens of questions most new whip performers need to ask. For example: How many tricks should be in a 5 minute show? What sort of things should I ask about the venue and stage area before I agree to the performance or arrive? What kind of sound system is available? And on, and on.
Our director, Gery Deer, has more than 25 years on stage performing everywhere from the Carnegie Music Hall to small, town festivals. He’s done thousands of shows over the years in virtually every type of venue and under just about every condition. One thing he’s learned and has taught others many times over is that each performer and each performance is different and there is no ‘cookie cutter’ tip or trick that will make yours perfect.
At The Whip Artistry Studio, we specialize in helping performers to become comfortable working with a whip and then teaching them to integrate it into their performance naturally. Using a whip in a show for the sake of having one there always comes across as kind of fake or forced. But build the sequence properly, with the audience in mind and applying the skills of the handler and you’ll have them eating out of your hand.
Theater Companies & Stage Productions
Generally we work with theater productions to train an actor to handle a whip for a particular sequence within a show. But it doesn’t stop there. Handling the whip is only one small part of what is necessary to make an actor seem believable to an audience but also handle the whip safely and professionally on stage.
Choreographing a whip sequence is like doing so for a dance or any other physical stage routine – it takes experience, planning and practice. We know exactly how to make each move work within your show and provide you with the proper whip handling techniques to take advantage of naturally integrated movement within the performance.
Fully Insured and Experienced
Our studio is a professional training center and our instructors are fully insured for this kind of work. No one should be working on a theatrical production without being properly insured. Our certificate is available upon request by contracted clients. After more than 500 productions, our experience is unmatched at stage presentation with the whip and instructing those actors and stunt professionals in how to best handle the equipment and present a safe, entertaining performance for their audience.